Pleasant malty aroma. Pours clear red-brown with a frothy white head. Taste is not too complex, medium sourness. Medium body, average carbonation. Would drink again but not something I’m going to be hunting down!

2003 draught. Dark body and soft, frothy head. Has properties of caramel, fruit, and even tobacco with a considerable dose of piney hops in the finish. Aftertaste is a bit astringent, as if from soap. The 2003 is a hoppy brew and quite unlike any true English Strong Ale. I think the recipe has changed (and improved) considerably for this one.

UPDATED: DEC 30, 2004 Winterhook is a very nice ruby-tan beer with an excellent hop nose, mixed with some underlying malt toastiness. The flavor shows primarily the hops (more than Ballard Bitter, certainly). All in all, a good amber IPA, somewhere between Indica and Hop Devil. It would benefit from more malt flavor.

Egg white type head, very dee copper color. Very fruity, hoppy aroma, hints of dry-hopping. Nutty, malty flavor with a hop flavor and lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. More in style with a thinnish IPA than an English Strong. Good beer, though.

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